The Hindu fanatics in the United States were unnecessarily wasting their breath and efforts in trying to stop the PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) TV show, The Soul of India, about the recent massacres of Muslims in Gujarat, India. The show did not contain anything of substance which could either harm their good reputation or could hurt their feelings. After the show, I am sure, not only their tension and nervousness would have been relieved, but they would have started writing a letter inviting James P. Ruben to make another programme which would further their cause.
Ruben, who is reporter Christiane Amanpour’s husband, produced it. He is a former US State Department spokesperson and former Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs in Bill Clinton’s government. As someone who has worked with the US government and who is currently filing reports for the US news media, he is quite familiar about who to criticize and how to be ‘objective’. He knew beforehand how delicate the Hindu fundamentalists and their feelings are, and also how important India is nowadays, and so avoided as much as possible anything that would bring out the true fascist nature of the Hindu bigots.
Sometimes it became quite difficult to figure out as to who the victim is: the Muslims or the Hindu bigots? The show did not mention the Forensic Department report that states that the fire was set from the inside of the train compartment which claimed the lives of 58 Hindus, instead of the fire being set from the outside by the Muslim mob as has been alleged. Teesta Setalwad (co-editor of the Communalism Combat magazine), Shabnam Hashmi (of the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust), Harsh Mander (the IAS officer who resigned over the Gujarat massacres), Father Cedric C. Prakash (an active supporter for minorities’ rights), Mallika Sarabhai (a classical dancer and an activist), and so many others who have through their writings, lectures, and tours exposed the gory crimes of the Hindu fundamentalists and the BJP-led state government of Chief Minister Narendra Modi. All these people were missing from the show. Ruben did not take the trouble — and did not give trouble — of asking questions to any major leader of the Sangh Parivar or Sangh Family (an umbrella organization of Hindu fundamentalist parties), such as Prime Minister Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister (and the man running the central government) Modi, Ashok Singhal (VHP) or any leader of the RSS (the main organization which is running everybody, including Advani), thus avoiding any discomfort to the Hindu leaders and also preventing any discomfort to himself.
It did not have any of the inflammatory statements issued everyday by dozens Hindu leaders. There were no newspaper editors or journalists or TV reporters — many of them did a commendable job of reporting the gory details.
Ruben teaches at the London School of Economics, England. At least as a courtesy to his host country, he could have cited the British High Commission’s enquiry about the Gujarat pogrom, about which the Indian government was not happy. He showed two Hindu leaders who talked a great deal about Muslims’ inability to live peacefully and in a brotherly fashion. One of them talked about the September 11 tragedy and how the Israelis are coping with Palestinian Muslims. (It’s like a jingle bell to many ears in the US.) Those two were given enough time to vent out their feelings.
Ruben must have got this assignment through some connections. Usually, the PBS produced Frontline programmes are of high standard — though politically not very bold. It would have been better if it were a Frontline programme, and much better if it was a BBC or ITV (Independent Television, England) programme.
After a while, the show became an exercise as to whether the former police chief of Punjab, G. S. Gill, who was called into Gujarat to control the situation, would be able to prevent disturbances during the Jaggannath Yatra to be led by Modi, with participation by leaders of other Hindu outfits, such as Bajrang Dal (the Hindu monkey god Hanuman’s army) and VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad or World Hindu Council), or not. Yes, Sardarji succeeded in his mission. Afterwards, he went back to the Hockey Federation of India in New Delhi (literally) and Ruben bhai came back to the US — after about 42 minutes — to enlighten us with former US Senator James Mitchell’s wisdom about Islam, Ireland, Israel/Palestine, and the “important” India/Pakistan.
Like a commercial South Asian film, the show had a happy ending, because the disturbances were prevented. The credits at the end said that Mitchell’s law firm represents India in the US.
